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This requires closely working with partners, both on the cloud side and the channel side, Haas said.

"Many of our partners are also cloud providers," he said. "We want to make sure they use Dell technology. Dell also wants to make this truly plug-and-play. Partners can play in an open way, with no lock-ins."

Sam Greenblatt, chief architect and technologist for Dell's Enterprise Solutions Group, told CRN that Dell's public cloud strategy is focused on OpenStack for customers looking for an open cloud solution.

"We want to allow customer choice, and we are providing it," Greenblatt said. "We help customers get the cloud performance they require whether they use VMware, Hyper-V, or KVM virtualization. If the customer want to go to AWS or Amazon, we provide the interface."

Dell is focused on helping partners and customers connect to the public cloud of their choice, Greenblatt said.

"I hope all those public cloud companies grow like crazy because we supply most of them," he said.

John Swainson, president of Dell software, told solution providers at the Dell Enterprise Forum that, broadly speaking, Dell is already a part of all aspects of the cloud business.

This includes supplying hardware and software to the largest cloud services providers, providing VMware and Microsoft virtualization technology, and offering services to help customers run cloud environments, Swainson said.

However, he said, Dell lacked the ability to manage the entire environment and applications, set up policies, and migrate policies and data until it started partnering with Enstratius, which Dell acquired in May.

Dell saw that Enstratius had a great technology for managing both public and private clouds, and that the company will be investing heavily in future development of its Enstratius technology, Swainson said.

"I believe you're going to live in a hybrid world. ... We're looking forward to turning this into the cornerstone of our cloud strategy," he said.

XChange Solution Provider 2015 is finally upon us and the timing couldn't be better. The premier channel event is happening March 1-3 in Dallas, bringing together 225 solution provider decision makers from across North America. CRN is at the event to provide news, analysis and a firsthand take from partners.